Plumbing In Manufactured Homes – Fixing Common Issues

Plumbing in manufactured homes is a bit different than plumbing in a site-built home but the basics are the same. This article will help you learn how manufactured home plumbing differs from a site-built house, how to find what’s wrong with your plumbing system, and how to repair the most common issues.

Wrong Information about Manufactured Home Plumbing Isn’t Hard to Find

One popular home improvement site erroneously states that mobile homes aren’t regulated as well as a site-built home and that their plumbing systems are made of cheaper materials than most site-built home.

However, manufactured housing has been on the cutting edge of plumbing technology for decades. In fact, PEX was originally used in manufactured housing long before the site-built construction industry began using it.

It’s no secret that manufactured homes have to meet stringent national regulations and be inspected before leaving the factory by certified inspectors.

That’s just one example of the outright wrong and overly negative information you’ll find about manufactured homes across the web. This article will help you understand the how a plumbing system works in manufactured homes and how to troubleshoot common plumbing issues.

Plumbing in Manufactured Homes Vs Site-Built Homes

Plumbing in manufactured homes has the same basics and logistics as site-built homes. The main differences are the location of the pipes and the ‘simplification’ of the system. Location is different simply because manufactured homes are built differently. The other big difference is the lack of cleanouts and cutoff valves in the home but newer manufactured homes have those now.

Supply Line Location

The most obvious difference between site-built home and manufactured home plumbing is the location of the supply lines. Supply lines are where your water comes from and in site-built homes, they are run inside the walls. In manufactured homes, they are run under the home either in the middle alongside your heating ducts or on the side, depending on the layout and location of your water heater.

Cleanouts, Overflows, and Traps

Cleanouts, overflows, and traps are not used much in manufactured homes.

Ventilation

Ventilation is as important as supply and drain lines in all plumbing systems so of course manufactured homes have them – they are required by law! Vent stacks are the small pipes sticking out of your home’s roof and they help remove all the bad fumes and gases that are created from waste away from your home. You have to have one for your plumbing to work properly.

Cheaper Material?

As stated above, some people believe manufactured homes have a substandard piping material and that is just not true. There were as many site-built homes with those pipes as manufactured homes.

Some manufacturers did use the plastic, polybutylene) pipe or galvanized metal pipe, which was standard at the time but it was later learned that the material had issues. We’ll talk about that in detail in a few moments.

Cutoff Valves

It is smart to have cut off valves at every water source (faucet, tubs, and toilet) however, if you have to repair or replace a supply line anywhere within your home, you must cut the main water supply off. There’s a lot of pressure in those lines and it needs to be reduced before you start cutting into them.

3 Parts of Manufactured Home Plumbing Systems

Basically, there are 3 parts that make up the whole plumbing system. Supply lines do exactly what they say they do, supply the water. The next component is the drainage lines and they drain waste. Simple enough, huh? The last part is the ventilation lines.

Your water supply lines are the smaller pipes (3/8-1 inch) that come into the home. They are usually either copper or Pex. If your home has white, cream or a medium grey pipe for your supply lines, you will probably want to replace them as most local regulations don’t recommend them and some have banned them altogether. The water comes through 1 line and then branches at the water heater so some water can get heated, from there a hot and cold line runs parallel to the faucets, tubs, etc.

Your larger pipes (2″-4″) will be your drain lines. Drainage lines use gravity, traps, and ventilation to ensure the optimum waste removal and keep gases and fumes from building up and releasing. Think of this as a completely closed system with positive and negative vacuum or pressure. All the parts have to work correctly to allow the system to do what it is designed for. Without the proper positive or negative pressure acting as a vacuum in the pipes the waste won’t go where it’s supposed to, it can back-flow instead.

Drain pipes are usually made from copper or PVC. You have to get the grade right on drainage pipes because too much of a grade (or slant) will cause as much issue as too little. A 1/4″ to 1/2″ grade per every foot is ideal.

Ventilation Pipes

Ventilation pipes ventilate and help the waste keep the proper pressure or vacuum – in other words, it keeps water in all the right places. It is just as important as the supply and drain lines and you have to have ventilation in order to make it all work. Plumbing systems are much like a living thing – it has to have air and water.

A single ventilation pipe in a manufactured home won’t help the drain pipes furthest away so they use what I’ve always just called a dry vent (they also call them auto vents, check vents, or air admittance valves). These vents allow air to flow into the drains. Keep in mind that oftentimes a dry vent on a sink isn’t necessarily helping the sink it is tied into, it’s benefiting the other drains in the house. If you would like to learn more about auto vents, this article does well explaining, as does this one.

Source: mobilehomerepair.com

Remember that water is coming into your home under a lot of pressure through your supply lines. It can turn corners and go up several stories. If you have a leak in the system, imagine how much water can be lost in just a small amount of time! It really pays to be proactive and do a monthly plumbing check. Drainage leaks are sneaky little things. Water will always follow the path of least resistance so sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint where the leak is coming from. Here’s the simplest schematic I could find to show you:

Common Plumbing Pipe Materials Used in Manufactured Homes

You will need to know what type of pipe and fittings are used for each sub-system. There are basically 2 types of piping used in plumbing- metal and plastic. Most plumbing in manufactured homes uses plastic. Plastic pipes include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), PEX pipe and PolyPipe®. Metal plumbing pipe consists of copper, stainless steel, and galvanized steel. Not all pipes are as useful or effective as others, and each type is used for a specific purpose in plumbing.

Polybutylene Pipe

Polybutylene was used in all types of homes, including manufactured homes, from the late 1970’s to the mid-1990’s. Several lawsuits were filed on behalf of millions of homeowners due to issues this material had. If you had any type of bleach in your water, and most city systems do, the pipe would break down and cause leaks and complete blowouts, usually within 5-10 years. You can’t buy it anymore but it’s still in more homes than it should be. It’s a medium grey color and will have PB and some numbers on the side. If you have this in your home today, you need to replace it and then go buy a lottery ticket cause you have been very lucky to have had it this long without any issues!

If you are looking to buy an older manufactured home, do not buy it with this kind of pipe in it. Make the seller replace it or have them take the replacement cost off the price of the home (there may even be local and federal laws prohibiting the sale of a home with this type of pipe in it).

PVC

PVC is a type of plastic plumbing pipe primarily used to transport high pressured water. It is available in several standard sizes, ranging from ½ inch to 4 inches in diameter. PVC pipe is only made to handle cold water, as hot water will cause the pipe to warp. It is generally white in color, though a few varieties are gray.

CPVC

CPVC pipe that has received an extra chlorination. It comes in a distinctive yellow color and can handle both hot and cold water. CPVC is more flexible with substantially thinner walls than PVC pipe and has the same outer diameter as copper pipe, which increases its range of uses.

PEX

PEX, also known as cross-linked polyethylene pipe, was first manufactured in the 1920s but has become more popular in recent years. It shares the same outer diameter as copper and can be used for both hot and cold water. However, PEX pipe has a much higher heat resistance than most other plumbing pipes and is often used in water-based heating systems. It comes in a creamy white color, as well as red and blue which is used to denote hot and cold pipes respectively.

We recommend you replace your water lines with PEX when the time comes to update. You can use special fittings to secure the connections by hand or rent the tool needed to connect the lines. Pex, in our humblest of opinions, is the best pipe for water supply lines and is so much easier to install than anything else.

PolyPipe®

PolyPipe is a thick black pipe used to transport highly pressurized water, usually to and from the home. It is used almost exclusively outdoors and is usually buried underground to prevent freezing. PolyPipe® is extremely rigid, and is rarely used for other purposes.

Here’s a good video about a double wide re-pipe:

Copper

Copper is the most common type of plumbing pipe used in the home, although it is more expensive than plastic piping. It is especially resistant to corrosion and can withstand high temperatures. Copper pipes come in three different sizes – type M, L, and K. Type M have very thin walls, while type L is of medium thickness, and type K is the thickest of the three.

Stainless steel

Stainless Steel pipe is less not as commonly used as other metal pipes, as it is more expensive and harder to find. It is primarily used in marine environments because it can withstand salt water, which would erode most other metal pipes. The price makes it less desirable for other applications, or in safer areas where a copper pipe would perform just as well.

Galvanized

Galvanized pipe is known for rust issues and the plastic piping (polybutylene) are known to corrode and cause leaks. There’s also an issue with the connections. If you find yourself plagued with leaks, go ahead and re-pipe the home, if possible.

Galvanized pipes have been used in homes for years, typically to carry water in and out of the house. The galvanized coating prevents rusting and gives a dull gray appearance. Use of these heavy duty pipes is diminishing, as it is being replaced by PEX pipe, which is less expensive and just as durable. Galvanized pipes typically come in sizes between ½ inch and 2 inches in diameter.

Common Plumbing Issues in Manufactured Homes

Nasty smells and weird noises

Notice the yellow vent lines in the schematic above? It’s the small pipe sticking out of your roof. There are wet vents and dry vents, the roof pipe is considered a wet vent. Without proper ventilation, you will encounter several issues. The worse being nasty fumes and a build-up of gases that could cause some serious issues.

Ventilation makes your pipes remain at a neutral pressure. Without proper venting your drainage slows and the water in your P-trap goes away, which in turn releases the nasty gas/fume combination.

If you hear weird sounds coming from your walls you most likely have a venting problem. Think of a soda bottle: when you tip it half way, the liquid smoothly flows but when you turn it completely upside down, it makes gurgling sounds and the soda pours out slowly. That’s what happens when there’s not enough ventilation or air flow. If you have ventilation issues you can fix it yourself fairly easily.

Leaks

Water is one of the most destructive forces on earth. It will always flow the path of least resistance. Plumbing in manufactured homes will rarely be inside a wall so you won’t need to worry too much about damage to walls, it will be the floors that get the most of the damage and then just spread from there. Most plumbing pipes run under the home and up through the floors.

A monthly check under your home is a good idea. Your flooring is most likely made of a composite wood and that stuff loves water – it just soaks it right up and eventually bows and rots.< In the end, it will be far cheaper, and less stressful, to just run new water supply lines than trying to fight with old material and patches. Area plumbing codes will be the ultimate factor in deciding what material to use but Pex is a popular product and as long as the connections are high quality and a proper seal is made, will be your best choice for supply lines.

Fixing Plumbing Problems in Manufactured Homes

Leaks, clogs, low pressure, obnoxious odors and having no hot water are just a few of the issues that you may encounter. If your manufactured home is older you may have to replace the system entirely. There’s lots that can go wrong! We’ll try to cover them all in the future.

Leaking Faucets

Leaking can occur in a couple of different places on a faucet. It’s probably easier to just replace the whole unit than repairing. If you are especially attached to your faucet, this article about fixing leaking faucets should help.

Clogs in your kitchen Sink

If there is a clog in your sink, a plunger can work well. They make a smaller plunger for the task. If you have a two-sided sink, close off one side by stuffing a rag into the drain (cut off air) and plunge the other side, then switch – keep doing it until the clog is gone.

If you have clog issues frequently, it may be time to find the underlying issue. You can remove your p-trap, if it’s closed off with grease you can clean it out or replace. You may need to add a dry vent to the next closest sink.

How to Turn Your Water Off

You need to know where and how to turn your water off in case of an emergency, or before any repair. Being able to shut your water off quickly can be the difference in a complete disaster and a small inconvenience. The main stop valve should be around your outside garden hose water connection (hose bib as some call it) and most are easy to get to on a manufactured home.

If you can’t find your connection, then you need to be able to cut your water off at the source: at the main water meter (assuming you are on a city system) or in your pump house if you are on a well system. If you are on city water you will need to own a water meter key in the shape of a five-sided pentagon to remove the cover. They come in different sizes so make sure you buy the right one. You can also use a wrench and long screwdriver for a makeshift key – place a wrench on the vertical (or straight up and down) and the thread the screwdriver through the hole at the end of the wrench. The two tools will look like a T. Use the screwdriver to turn the wrench. This article about turning off your water supply is handy if you want to read more.

The red arrow shows the nut you need to turn.

Hiring a Plumber for you Manufactured Home

If you do need to call a professional plumber, my best advice is to ask every plumber, and any construction worker for that matter, if they actually passed the licensing exam or if they were grandfathered in. If they say they were grandfathered in, get a different plumber. I’m serious.

Allow me to explain: Here in WV, and a couple other states I know of, they made it mandatory that anyone working on a construction site had to carry a license. They offered 3 types of licenses: apprentice, journeyman, and master. However, when the law first took effect, they gave everyone a time frame to apply and the applicants automatically received the license so one had to take an exam to prove their knowledge.

Now, several states have hundreds of ‘licensed’ master carpenters, electricians, and plumbers that aren’t as knowledgeable as they should be.

Most importantly, ask for references and actually call and ask them how the job went.

We’ve covered the basics of plumbing in manufactured homes: how the systems work, where everything is located, and what your choices are for pipe materials. We also covered the 5 most common mobile home plumbing issues and how to troubleshoot them.

Mobile Home Proud

About The Author

Hello! I'm Crystal and I created Mobile Home Living® in 2011. I've proudly lived in manufactured housing most of my life and help repair and remodel mobile homes with my husband, a master plumber and general contractor.I hope Mobile Home Living is an inspiring and informative resource for you. Please consider letting me feature your remodels, DIY projects, and makeovers. There aren't enough resources for mobile home owners online and I want to change that! Thank you!

218 Comments

Stacey on October 29, 2018 at 6:13 pm

Hi my name is stacey I have an older mobile home still has the grey pipes under it. So the past few years I have had an issue with water pressure. Found out while doing some trouble shooting that I still had metal pipe under the ground. The metal pipe was changed last year and after that I cleaned out the hot water tank and change the elements that still made no difference in my water pressure and it’s both hot and cold. It has gotten to the point now that there isn’t even enough pressure to run the shower. Last winter my water froze and the pressure got 100 times better but since it’s gotten to be the worst it has ever been. So I changed a couple of the t’s leading to the hot water tank and the pressure is still low I didn’t even see any thing in the t’s but my thought is since when I turn the water on I get a rush of water then it dies right down so there has to be a clog in the line coming in some where. That being said I’m a single mother and I am not crawling under my house my thought is to bring the waterlines into the house and have them run along the floor or ceiling. My other question is in doing this should I stick to 1/2 inch pex or just run 3/4 inch pex? I know one of the t’s that I changed the cold going to the tank was 3/4 inch and then t’s to 1/2 inch. My thought is if I go with 3/4 inch there will b less of a chance of getting clogs in the waterline in the future. Also would it be best to run the hot along the ceiling or the floor?

So, it sounds like you have a volume problem more than a pressure issue. When you changed the main metal line was the pressure reducing valve replaced as well? You did great by updating the lines and that probably fixed a huge part of your issue (closed pipes) but if that pressure reducing valve wasn’t’ replaced it’s holding your volume back which is acting like the original problem even though it isn’t (I hope I’m explaining this well enough to understand)…With water lines, all of them should be under the floor. You don’t want to have to replace ceiling panels if there’s ever a leak.

Best of luck! Let me know about the PRV. I’m almost certain that’s the issue.

I hope you don’t mind this inquiry. I have a 22 year old double wide mobile home made by Chandeleur Model 2810-3B2. We started having fluctuations in our water pressure about a month ago (sometimes it was strong sometimes low with all faucets). This week the flow has been starting out strong for a few seconds, then goes low (less than half normal). Our outside faucet is part of the main line going to the house yet it’s flow is strong and doesn’t fluctuate. We do not have hard pipes, they look more like hoses PEX I guess. Haven.t yet had any luck finding how to talk to Chandeleur to see if they installed a filter for our water system. If you have any advice or insight to help me correct the problem it would be appreciated.

I bought a 1981 single wide a few years ago. for a couple of years all that leaked were a couple of windows. I had custom windows put in. Now the problem is leaks keep sprouting from the nasty blue pipes and I can’t keep up. I have nasty smells under my kitchen sink. Hallway sinking, and one bedroom has a floor that is coming apart from wall where my daughters bed is. I am afraid mold is growing somewhere where leaks are and were. What should I do. Can’t afford the high prices the plumbers want to reinforce flooring and replacing pipes?

First, you really need to get the leaks fixed. Read this article and see if there’s anything in it that could help you. $40 worth of PEX and a couple of fittings could save your home from utter destruction and there are Youtube videos you can watch to help you do it yourself. Once the leaks are fixed then you can replace the soft subfloor and build the floor up to the wall.

Hello. Thank you for your terrific advice in this website. I’m in Central California (Sacramento area) and I live in a 1977 mobile home in a senior mobile park. The mobile home has the original galvanized steel fresh water pipes. The pipes have corroded and the flow is greatly reduced, especially the hot water, and not the cleanest. I am going to replace the pipes with PEX. (I won’t be removing the old pipes.) My plan is to have a Hot manifold and a Cold manifold (or a combination hot/cold one) and use the home-run design to run individual water lines to each fixture. The original fresh water pipes are run above the “belly” covering and I don’t want to cut into it to run the PEX. Can I run the pipes and hang and attach them below the belly cover? Then just go thru the belly cover where I have to attach to the fixtures? If yes, anything I need to watch out for? Any advice would be appreciated. Kind regards, ~ Dave

Ideally, you really would want the lines to run close to the vent/ducts of your furnace (if you get freezes) and above the belly wrap because you don’t want any holes in it. You can always patch the belly with some tape (though don’t buy the belly tape they sell at the mobile home supply store, you can find better working tapes at Lowe’s. Other than that, you have a good plan. If you can, take some pics along the way, I have a hard time finding images for DIY articles. Thanks! Best of luck!

I own a single wide mobile home. Last winter i lost all water in the bathroom for about 3 days. I assumed it was frozen pipes and brought in a plumber. After snaking the lines for about an hour and a half, he determined there was no plug, and he couldnt find any freezing. He was unable to help me, charged me for his time and left. I had mentioned that the roof vent over the bathroom was buried under the snow but he kept insisting that wasnt the problem. I will mention that water was completely fine in the kitchen at the opposite end of the mobile. The water heater is in the back bedroom. We were having a very cold snap at the time. After three days, the water returned in the bathroom and everything was working fine. The pipe of the roof was clear at that point. Is it possible the buried pipe was the issue? Should I have the pipe extended so that doesnt happen this winter?

The vent on your roof only affects the waste lines, not the supply lines. You probably had a little section of pipe that was frozen and the snake just didn’t reach it. Good job keeping an eye on everything though – a lot of people wouldn’t even attempt to learn how things work.

Hello, we’re so very confused about how the plumbing work in a manafacture home. My son just bought his first home, this home is a newer model, but he noticed water draining out from a pipe and we can hear some kind of noises under the house, it sounds like a pump. Is this normal?

I’d need a lot more information about the home, the noise, and the drain before I can offer any guidance. What type of home, what type of drainage system (city sewer, septic, etc), type of noise, what’s the pipe look like?

I have a 1993 Fleetwood doublewide mobile home. The problem I’m having is when I run the dish washer, use water in the kitchen sink or the laundry room…water backs up in the master bathroom in the tub, shower and toilet. The bathroom on the other side of the house has no problem. I have tried liquid plumber several times and it it will eventually drain, but when I use the water again in the kitchen it backs up again. If I do nothing it will also eventually drain. Also, after it drains and no water has been used for a few days, I can use the dish washer and there is no backup in the tub…but if I continue to use water it backs up again. Again the other tub, toilet and sink never back up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

You have a partial clog that is holding water in your trunk line. The other bathroom would be fine since it ties into the trunk line at another point. A plumber could come in and jet the line in an hour.

Not sure if my comment got through.I have a 2016 Atlantic double-wide manufactured home and am looking to do a new install on a fridge ice maker water line. The fridge is on the opposite wall of the sink. Can i run a water line under the floor to the sink, this would mean removing the home’s skirts and crawling under the floor to run it to the sink. My question is what is needed for this and what precautions do I need to take to make sure the line does not freeze in winter. I live in Maine so it can get very cold.

Yes, you absolutely can run your fridge water line under your cabinets. It’s pretty standard in all homes. Make sure you have it protected well (maybe strap it directly under the counter) and be cautious that its there (checking for leaks on occasion). Best of luck!

I have a 2016 Atlantic doublewide without an ice maker line for a fridge. I am looking to purchase a new fridge with an ice maker line, problem is the fridge and sink are not on the same wall. Can I run an ice and water line under the floor to the sink, this would mean drilling a hole where the fridge will be and crawling under the floor on the slab to run the water line to the sink. Is this possible and what precautions do I need to take to make sure the line doesn’t freeze in the winter.

Hello. I am recovering from a disastrous water heater installation which flooded my 1976 Fuqua home requiring removal of floors and walls in several rooms. Here’s my question…after three months of dealing with terrible service, the restoration company left my outside water heater closet without the paneling that was originally there until I showed them a photo showing it was paneled before mitigation started. I finally got to them reinstall paneling, but they refused to insulate the walls inside it which are kitchen and laundry room walls. They said you don’t insulate those. However, the walls in these areas are nothing more than 1/8″ particle board and you could see daylight through the outlets when the paneling was down. We are talking paper thin walls that move when you push on them. I have convinced them to blow insulation in there now but they say I will need to heat that closet in winter to avoid freezing since the heat from the house will no longer be doing the job. I live in Bend, OR and it gets extremely cold here in the winter. We have a lot of snowbirds here so I can’t imagine that what they are saying is true since those folks leave their homes for months without heat on in the house. I just want to put this issue to rest and ran across your site. I have had two plumbers tell me there should be insulation in the walls to my mobile home especially due to it’s age. Who is right? THANK YOU!

I know I’ve answered this comment before but my commenting system in on the fritz so I’m answering it again, sorry. You should have received an email with my first answer.I’m thinking you don’t want insulation on the interior walls of your water heater closet so that the heat from your home helps keep the closet warmer which makes the water heater work a little more efficiently. You definitely want insulation on the exterior wall though.

I have a 76 mobile home that we have a leaky faucet in the shower and possibly need to replace the actual valves to the sink and the shower. Can regular valves like from Lowes be used or do I need to get special mobile home valves?

Absolutely! You may need to buy connectors to reduce or expand your original pipe in order to use your new faucet (they often include them in the box). I do recommend that buy a good quality name brand faucet (Kohler, Moen, American Standard, etc). Best of luck!

I just moved in to a triple wide manufactured home. It has two water heaters, one in furnace area and one on the other end closer to the bathrooms. The toilets are connected to the hot water as are the outside sill cocks. Any suggestions?

I know I’ve answered this comment before but my commenting system in on the fritz so I’m answering it again…your lines have been crossed somewhere under the home and it’s gonna be a heckuva chore to find where it occurred and then fix it. Unless you are really comfortable with plumbing you may want to hire a pro. They can probably spot the issue quickly and get the lines straightened out. You’ll def want to get it done as hot water used in toilets is going to waste a lot of electricity and wear and tear on your water heater.

I have a 1988 Fleetwood single wide. A bottle of shampoo fell and broke the cold water knob off the faucet in the tub. The so-called “repairmen” I’ve had come to look at it want to cut a hole in the adjoining room to get access to the piping behind the tub surround. They won’t guarantee that they won’t damage the paneling and/or trim in the adjoining room. I have redone the walls with wallpaper and paint, which wallpaper I doubt is available anymore. Now I’ve replaced a tub surround before and I think all that needs done is to take the panel off where the faucet and shower head are over the tub to get to the piping. This might require cutting a portion of the surround, but it could be replaced and the seam covered with trim once the repair is made. These guys want a minimum of $500 to do this repair. Since I’m a senior citizen on a fixed income and have made many repairs to mobile homes and “regular” homes over the years, I see no reason to pay this amount of money for what should be a fairly easy repair, if you actually know what you’re doing. Does my method of replacing this faucet sound do-able or am I being unrealistic?

You will want to let them cut the wall out from the backside. It’s going to be a lot easier to deal with because the surround on your tub is glued in and any kind of modification to it will likely cause a leak and you don’t want that. You can buy decorative panels to put over the opening but with the right technique, you would never know there was a panel cut out from the wall. I bet the plumber will know how to do it, too.

I have a small object under the bathroom sink which has a metal tube running into the drain pipe. The tube is about 1/4″ or 3/8″. There are three wires exiting the object, which are not attached to anything. Any ideas what this system is?

This might help. There is an element which warms the cold water pipes to keep them from freezing.

I have a 4 inch pvc pipe that runs at a slope covered under earth from our 32×80. We have had an extreme amount of rain lately. Water is running at a pretty steady pace from the pipe. The problem is I have never noticed water coming out of this pipe before. Someone once told me If I see water coming out of there I have a real problem. Could it be the 4 inches of rain we have gotten or is there a problem Thanks Tim

manufactured home,kitchen sink empties into a 4 inch drain pipe that goes all the way under the home to the septic ,on end of the 4 inch drain there is a clean out plug screwed into it. question is that plug removeable or do they glue them in upon install of home?

No, your cleanouts should never be glued. In fact, they are threaded so they can be easily removed to cleanout the pipe. Now, sometimes, the material warps in heat/cold a bit and tightens itself so much that you’d think it was glued.

Hi! I have a 2002 double wide Palm Harbor. My washer, when on spin cycle, would back up my kitchen sink. I ran a 25′ snake thru the sink and cleared whatever was in there…sink is good now. However, I can’t run my washer due to the water backing up thru the outflow pipe. I have removed the “p” trap behind the panel at the washer and run a 25′ snake back towards the kitchen…. Still backing up the outflow pipe. Even ran a snake from the roof down..no luck. I’m trying everything I can think of before cutting any pipe under the house. Any suggestions? Thank you in advance. Also, how can I get my hands on any plumbing schematics?

These days, we use washing detergent that is too sudsy and our washer drains are too small so this cause all kinds of trouble. You probably have a clog in your drain line to the trunk. You need a plumber to go in and jet your pipe. You could do this yourself (you sound handy) but knowing where and how to place the jet (drain king if you do it yourself) is vital so you don’t blow out something somewhere else. Best of luck!

Those hoses are not very expensive so go ahead and replace it. There are some products that seal well but it’s not worth the time or the cost when the hoses are so affordable ($30 or so should get you a good one).

I have a 1998 mobile home. my plumbing in the 2 bath no cold water anywhere so no water in toilet but if I take a hot shower then my toilet fills up with hot water. in my master shower I only have hot water also and in the sink. but the toilet works fine. kitchen sink both hot and cold works. Any ideas Thank you

Hi, We are snow birds living in a 1973 double wide. The main bathroom has a raised tub I would like to replace with a shower. Are the pipes raised under the tub making a major replaced job or is the tub on a platform that will make it much easier to replace? Thanks.

Hi Marcia, I’m doing a complete makeover in our master bath. Drain and supply lines were above the floor. The tub was already on a styrene platform so no issues since I was putting it back in place. I removed the fiberglass shower enclosure and I’m replacing it with a real tile shower. The shower drain and supply lines are above the floor. I rerouted the 1/2″ water lines into a wall but could not lower the drain lines. So the shower drain line and vent valve had to stay in place. I placed 2×4’s on the floor 8″ apart 2 high, screwed, glued and leveled to the original floor. That gave me the 3″ I needed to get above the drain line. Put a subfloor on top of the 2×4’s also screwing and gluing. Built the rest of the shower floor on top of that. The vent is in a corner so I’m building a corner seat to cover the 8″ sticking up and also extending the vent line into a adjoining linen closet in the bathroom.

Hi Crystal: I have a 1989 mobile home and about a year ago I had my smaller bathroom redone, tub/shower, toilet and sink. Recently I started smelling something and had my UN-Licensed (my fault) installer come check it. He came out and said he found a leak in the shower water line in the wall (he had to cut an access area to get into the bathroom plumbing. After he didn’t come back out and fix it I called a plumber with 40 yrs experience. He fixed it and told me it was a rubber gromet/gasket that was missing. He said my original installer should have seen the leak from day one and never closed up the access panel. He believes my leak was from day one of the install. Could this likely be true?

Yeah, it was probably leaking within days of the install. Lots of people forget the basics like gaskets and tape (or just don’t use them if they don’t have any handy). Also, sometimes the plumber will not buy all new guts for the shower to try to save money or time. Attaching new to old can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing (and don’t understand expansion and contraction). So sorry this happened to you.

I have a 1963 10×50 Ranchero mobile home with copper water supply lines. The plumbing runs along the inside wall in a enclosed box. The hot water line has a leak which requires splicing in a a new piece. The problem I’m having is finding the right size of copper tubing. The leak was caused from line freezing and blowing out a old repair. The size must be between a 3/8 and 1/2. I have tried both sizes and its either too small or too large. Could it be that the whole pipe swelled from freezing? I’ve been told that these old mobile homes have odd size plumbing. I cut out a 6′ piece thinking that would eliminate a swell problem, but no luck. Do you know the proper size copper tubing for this mobile home? Thank you.

So, you may want to look at your refrigerant/heating/air copper lines – those sizes are different from plumbing. Also, if they used rolled soft copper it will go into an egg shape and size weird. With those, you need to reftrofit and adapt. Also, look at the ID (inside diameter) and OD (outside diameter) – pipes are measured differently in some ways.

I have a 1999 Champion Doublewide home. On one side is the laundry room and master bath. The water on side A operates normal, hot water runs hot water and cold water runs cold. Side B has the kitchen and the 2nd bath. On side B the hot water faucets run cold water and the cold water faucets run hot water (reversed), this would also include hot water flushing the toilet on Side B. How is the water connected under the home when it is set up. What is the easiest way to find where the water supply was hooked to side B. I am assuming that once I find where the supply lines were connected, I can reverse them and then side B will operate normal including the toilet and shower.

It sounds like you need to find where your lines tee off of the main water supply trunk (or line) under the house and reverse them. For the faucets, you can switch out the lines under the faucets. You’ll probably want to call a plumber for the toilet – they will be able to get those lines switched out pretty quickly.

HI. Ok I’ll try to sum this up as quick as possible. I live in a mobile home. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. This summer a construction company was making a lagoon sewage pond thing. They were taking lots and lots of water truck loads of water from the fire hydrant located outside my home. I noticed the water would get very rusty and weak. At times, it would all up and stop working. When they finished the lagoon. My water pressure wasn’t normal. I’ve never had any issues with water pressure at all. We have city water hook-up. The strange thing is, after i cleaned the aerators out and bled the flex lines, the washer machine and bathroom pressures stayed insanely low. The toilet takes forever to fill back up, the cold water in the shower and washer machine barely work. When the washer machine is on the cold rinse cycle, I turn the tub cold and hot water on full and the pressure in my washer machine speeds up and it’s warm! Not cold. Like the hot water is having back-pressure or something. So that’s bacially it, in a nutshell. Oh yeah, the trailer does not have a pressure tank thing in it either….. I hope you have some tips or an answer. Thanks so much!

This is a mystery for sure but I think you have dirt clogging the screen for your pressure reducing valve coming from the main water line into the home. All that construction probably loosened up a lot of stuff in the lines. If that isn’t the case you may have to check all the screens for dirt on everything you own (washer, water heater, etc) (you may want to do that after you clean the pressure reducing valve anyway.

I’m in a Fleetwood doublewide, 25 years old. I have a shallow double aluminum ? sink in kitchen. I want to replace with a deeper, single sink. I need to know everything I will need to replace to do this. The drains are corroded and the pipes underneath would need to be for a single drain. I am pretty sure I have room for an 8″ deep sink – the pipes can be shortened, I am guessing? Any info, diagrams, wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I am so tired of wiping splashed water from these shallow basins. Thanks!!!!

You can Google sink and faucet replacements and find some great videos of the step-by-step process. They will give you a lot better info than I can just typing it out. The process for manufactured home replacements is similar to a site built home. I’d probably go ahead and replace the faucet while you’re doing the sink replacement. You’ll need to consider your counters (weight limitations and framing will be the two major issues to consider – mobile home sinks are usually low weight and are installed with clips).

I have a new 16×80 getting a smell once and a while off the back deck nothing in the house and at the end of trailer .Do think my vents on the roof need to be higher they are only about 8 to 10 inches ???

i have a 1993 double wide home and i have zero use for the toilet in on of the small bathrooms. So, I was wondering if there’s a way to get rid of the toilet and permanently seal of the toilet drain, so that i can get rid of the bathtub and put in a huge shower. if i were to leave the toilet in. I wouldn’t be able to put in a master shower.

My question is I have a 2005 double wide… The floor in the spare bathroom is wet.. but no water line leak because floor drys. Check water meter water meter stay still.. I was thinking it was a drain.. I had taken out the vanity.. run a water hose down the drain.. turn the water on for an hour still no leaks… I climbed under the house look for water leak felt around nothing.. around toilet dry OSB was soaked now dry don’t understand..

I have a doublewide mobilehome. Under my guest restroom there is water pouring out anytime we flush or let water run down the pipes, i do not however see any poop or smell anything unusual there. The toliet in the guest bath water value is shut off because water was comi g out from under it when it was flushed. Can you please explain how to fix this and maybe why it contiunes to happen? I paid a plumber over $900 because he said it was the wax seals and he replaced those and also put in a vent pipe for the washer. I need to get this fix asap. The sinks do gurgle when flushing or if the tub is draining but there are vents under the two sinks. I am not sure what the issue is. Please if someone can explain how to fix this. The big black pipe still seems to be pushing stuff to the septic and nothing is washing back up the pipes i just have no clue. Thanks!

My first thought was the wax rings but if the plumber replaced them then it just about has to be a simple pipe disconnect probably right under the toilet. You replace wax seals from in the home so unless the plumber crawled under the home first he would have likely assumed it was the wax just as I did (wax seals go bad more often than pipes disconnect so can’t really blame him). The disconnect would cause an unbalance in your vent lines too.

I recently had my asphalt shingle roof replaced with a metal roof and I’ve noticed that the sewer vent stack(s) were not carried through the metal roof. Since the metal roof installation, I have an occasional sewer odor in the kitchen and always notice sewer odor on cold mornings outside my back deck. No sewer pipe leakage to be found and all plumbing seems to be working properly. My guess is that the sewer gases from the vents are being trapped between the home plywood roof and the metal roof and are entering either through a kitchen gravity vent or range exhaust hood that were also not brought through the metal roof. The contractor says he installed 100’s of metal roofs this way and has never encountered a problem. Your thoughts on this , please.

I would contact the roof installers and make them open up the vent line (and add a wire netting over it to keep critters out). It sounds like you have it figured out. Roofers should know how important proper air flow is to a home’s ventilation lines.

It could be a couple of things: you may have a slow drain due to a slight blockage, you could need a larger pipe from the washer, or you could need better ventilation. A plumber could probably tell you immediately. Sorry I can’t be more precise!

Hi Crystal, I have a question concerning plumbing in my mobile home. I cannot get my hot water to work out of the kitchen sink faucet. The hot water runs fine in all other faucets. I undid the line from the hot water handle on my faucet. I have no water running thru the main hot water line. I also undid the cold water line and I have water coming from the main line. That told me it was not the faucet. I climbed under the trailer to check for broken water lines or leaks and found nothing. I’m perplexed as what it could it be. I had the kitchen and faucet replaced 6 months ago. I do know the old version had a pressure relief valve sticking out the top of the sunk. The new one does not and the installer stated it was not needed. Do you have any idea of what my problem could be?

I’m no plumber (and I’m no longer married to one) but I’m thinking you have a blockage in the line from the water heater to the faucet. Water heaters catch a LOT of settlement from the main water lines and it can build up in the lines (especially around the connections). I would try to snake it out and make sure the connection at the water heater is clear.

Hi Crystal, I’m so appreciative of this website that if you were here in person I’d hug you. Hard. I’m newly separated (after 27 years) and 62, and just purchased a 1991 14×70. It’s in great condition cosmetically, but I’m pretty sure there are a few hidden surprises.

Do you have a regular blog that I can sign up for? I’ve searched high and low on many of the articles, but can’t find anything that would allow someone to enter an email address. If there isn’t a blog, I’ll settle for your gold mine of information, and just search for whatever I need. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! You’ve made an old woman a little more relaxed.

I have added your name to our email list (I took it off the sidebar with an intention of creating a new one but I forgot to do it – thanks for reminding me!) I do have a form that is supposed to popup but it doesn’t seem to work very often.

You will need to confirm that you really want to receive emails from me so when you get an email pleases click the confirmation link and that will get you started.

Thanks so much for your kind words! I bet your home is going to be gorgeous!

(PS I’m newly divorced after 19 years. It’s a lot of change all at once but I think it’s for the best. I hope you will be able to say the same!)

great information , need to know I am looking for a manufactured home and I like Karsten , but also skyline, but skyline has a lot of complaints , not as much as clayton , who I will not touch ,, any suggestions would be helpful

All builders will have complaints and each area of the nation likely have different builders and, of course, dealers so that’s going to influence complaints and reviews. Do tons of research for your area, use some of the tips on here and you should be able to get the house you want at a fair price. Best of luck!

How does the mobile home plumbing code differ from any other when it comes to replacing the water heater? I know I need a special water heater (around 500 bucks) but can I pipe it just like a normal water heater with copper pipes attached to the Pex pipes?

Mobile home water heaters meet HUD code. When we replaced our water heater we went to Lowe’s and bought one but I suspect some states like California have a much stricter code. (Thanks Lee for the info!) You will need to choose between low boys and high boys and electric or gas. You’re looking at $300 max. Your codes will vary by state and county but there’s not a whole lot of variance from site-built homes. PEX is used often with shark bites and standard transitions from copper.

And there seem to be 2 types (for gas), direct vented and one in which DV is not required.

The DV type prevents indoor air from mixing with combustion air. Air gets sucked in from the top or bottom and escapes through a roof jack.

The other kind (for gas) is less expensive, and is allowed only in mobile homes that have a special access door from the outside to the water heater compartment.

But both (plus the electric kind) have this odd side inlet for the cold water, and I’m still trying to figure out why it can’t be piped into the top, as it is in houses. Maybe it has to do with the water coming up through the floor, but I don’t see the big deal in having another 4 feet of plumbing which would obviate the need for a special type of more expensive water heater, apart from the venting, which I would think could just be added onto a standard unit.

Thanks for the info. HUD regulations are, in all reality, absolute minimum safety standards which is why state and county code always trumps it. I do need to research and make sure that’s the case in all states though (I know we can use water heaters from Lowe’s in WV).

Unfortunately, the master plumber and I are now divorced so I can no longer get his advice. I did Google search a bit and came up with the following links which may help answer your question:

Thanks so much for the info. I’ll clarify my answer in the above comment.

Lee on October 19, 2016 at 12:27 am

I just met with a plummer about my mobile home water heater. I’m not certain if there is, or isn’t, a “special mobile home water heater,” but I do know that mine is “for use only in mobile homes,” according to the owner’s manual (Kenmore model #153.333850). The plummer told me to NOT have a handyman drain the sediment out because it is a lot more involved process, requiring disconnecting a few things before draining. He also said that they are not the same as in regular houses.

Hi. I have a 1999 fleetwood double wide that runs on city water in a mobile home park and we have poor cold water pressure with no cold water coming out of our one shower but plenty of hot water pressure. We have found lots of white deposits in the lines and the water heater and have even taken out the water heater to clean it out. We have 1/2 inch pvc lines and have tried blowing pressure through the lines but still have no cold water in our shower do you have any suggestions? Btw, we have replaced the shower heads and bathroom fixtures and still the cold water is poor throughout the whole house but no cold in main bathroom. Any suggestions on what to do? Thank you

If I had to guess, I’d say you have a blockage in your shower body valve (the guts behind the wall). Your line goes from say 1/2″ to 3/8″ or 1/4″ in there and that narrowing gets clogged with sediment.

You can usually access the body valve via a bedroom closet through the opposite side of the wall (there’s usually a panel). Take the new shower heads off and blow it out. That should help!

I have a 1989 Marshfield home single wide, I trying to put a shutout valve in my cold water line but it does,not come up by the hot water tank. The main cold water line does not come up throw the at all. One line straight to the hot water tank,No splits when the line goes straight to the hot water tank. So the main cold water is underneath the floor, The ownly way is to cut into the floor to put a main water value inside the home.

In this case I would probably just make sure I had easy access to a main shut off valve under the home (before the water enters the home). Along with a ‘key’ to shut off the city water and a whole home shut-off valve you should be fairly well protected. Lots of homes already have a main valve shut-off and it’s usually located close to or with the water hose connection. As long as you can get to that main valve to shut off all water you should be OK (make sure there’s access to the valve in the skirting – a door or a panel works well).

Look around your back door or where your water heater/utility/laundry room is located. It’s usually about 6-12″ back from the edge. Best of luck!

Dan on May 18, 2016 at 11:37 pm

This is a great article that helped me understand better how my piping works, but I have more specific questions that I cannot find the answer to anywhere.

The previous owner of my home made some of the plumbing a little wonky and there are two vent pipes (I assume) going to the roof in the bathroom. Both are 1-1/2″.

Are both required? Is it dependent on how he did all the plumbing underneath (he replaced the ancient metal pipes with plastic). Would any harm come from relocating one, that is really my problem one as it’s done in a way that prevents a large chunk of the bathroom from being used for anything but pipe-space. And can this pipe, and others, be inside a wall?

I cannot afford a plumber, so I’m trying to learn what I can, but the internet is surprisingly sparse on mobile/manufacture home literature.

Yes, the vent pipes are 100% dependent on the layout of the drainage/waste pipe under the home. The previous owners probably capped off some old pipe or rerouted pipe and maybe couldn’t reach the original or had a clog/issue in it… but that kinda perplexes me because opening up the roofing and ceiling seems to be a lot more trouble than reaching the original vent or repairing whatever issue it may have had. I’m not a fan of making holes if it’s not 100% necessary, especially in the roof. If the original vent isn’t being used at all it’s probably a good idea to cap it off and seal it up completely so no leaking can occur.

Just came across this awesome website! We just replaced a broken pipe between our well house and our home. We came inside and took the screens off of the faucets to clear the lines. Cold water throughout the house has really low pressure and one of our toilets won’t fill. Hot water throughout is good and the other toilet in house (farthest from the repair and where the water comes into the home) is good. Is this something we can track down and fix or is it time for a professional?

You probably have a clog at the tee on the cold line at your water heater. It’s likely clogged after it feeds cold water to the water heater, that’s why you have hot water pressure but not cold. It’s probably gunk in the lines where you hooked to the old line in ground, happens all the time.

This probably seems obvious to others, but not to me. To replace plumbing (water lines), do you access the lines by opening up your flooring or opening up the belly? It seems like I’d be disturbing too much on the underside if I went up through the belly, but don’t relish the thought of going through flooring. I watched a YouTube video of a man demonstrating Pex replacement in a mobile home. He opened up the flooring but doesn’t explain much — not even demonstrating how to use the crimper. (I already know how to do Pex, familiar with the tools, etc. I’m a landlord and have done it on one of my rentals. EASY & FUN!)

If I open up the flooring, is it easy enough just to open a small area and ‘fish’ the new Pex to any other area in the home where I make another small opening to grab the Pex through?

I’m working on a 1967 Ritz-Craft, 500+ sq. ft. home. It’s in a 55-and-over community, beautiful, small, quiet, country park, and will be my retirement home. It has copper pipes now. (And, copper wiring — happy about that!) How can I actually tell where the original pipes run without ripping up the whole flooring or belly? Did/do all manufacturers follow a rule of thumb and run them beside the heating ducts/vents?

(Should I just do a copper to Pex transition to my new kitchen and to the relocation of my hot water tank and forget about a full re-plumbing job?)

To give you more information, my home is 2-bedroom. The kitchen was all the way to the front (along with the hot water heater) and open to the living room. I’m centralizing the kitchen (basically where the second bedroom is now) and turning the existing kitchen into the second bedroom. So, all my plumbing, including my hot water heater will be more practically located. The heater will be re-located to a closet in the master bedroom, which is next to the bath, which will be next to my new kitchen (where the small, second bedroom is now).

First, keep in mind that you will never be able to repipe your home exactly how it was from the factory – they ran the pipe before the flooring and walls were installed and may have placed the pipes in the middle (usually) or on one side or the other, depending on the layout.

Your best bet when doing a complete repipe with PEX, is to just cap off the old water lines at the floor of each fixture and run new PEX.

If you have no flooring and easy access, perhaps pulling your subfloor up will be easier but in most cases I think working from underneath is less hassle. If you can cut/cap off the old pipe under the floor and use the same hole in the floor for the new pipe that’s great, if not, no big deal.

You can drill a hole in the floor and punch the PEX through the insulation and belly wrap (just so you can find it). Once you’ve found all your PEX under the house, run your trunk line (preferably under the insulation and over the plastic belly wrap). You can tape the belly wrap back together with belly wrap tape. You’ll use the access panels to reach the ‘guts’ to the showers (if you don’t have one you’ll need to make one on the back side of the shower).

By running all new pipe and capping off all the old at each fixture, you won’t need to worry about where the old pipe is. By leaving the old pipe in place and capping it off at each fixture you will be saving time (especially important if paying a plumber by the hour) and dump fees. You won’t be fighting with running the new pipe through the drilled holes, etc. It’s just an overall less-stressful way to re-pipe a mobile home. I can only think of a couple of scenarios where removing the old pipe and running the new through the exact route is beneficial or worth all the extra effort.

Your new trunk line could be ran down the middle of the home or on one side depending on your layout and where your water heater is. Just figure out a route that uses the least amount of pipe (and cuts/transitions) to reach all your fixtures. You’ll want your pipe to be as close to the venting as possible if you deal with cold winters (not a big deal if you are in CA, FL, etc).

I like to recommend re-piping the whole house if you’re having a lot of leaks or if your home is very vintage and original. Might as well do it all if you’re already down there!

Hope that helps. If you have any more questions just reply! Best of luck!

This is the way I’m picturing what you’re saying for the new Pex — order from ground up: Belly wrap, trunk line, insulation, sub-floor/flooring. Branch lines go straight through floor from fixtures (if not using old holes), through insulation (no fishing), connected to trunk line — all as close to venting (ducts) as possible. (Thus, I’ll have a continuous slit in the belly wrap several feet long — following the trunk line and connections — to seal with belly tape.)

Much less complicated and much less work than I was anticipating.

Another question. It’s been almost 20 years since I lived in a mobile home, so forgive my lack of memory . . . the heat tape then wraps as much of the trunk as possible to keep it from freezing, right? In other words, should the tape go as far on the trunk as my farthest branch connection? Or do I create a fire hazard since it would all be — or a big part of it — inside the belly? (From what I understand through other internet reading, the installed heat tape and pipe gets wrapped with insulation.) (Until I started reading about heat tape installation, I didn’t even realize there are tapes especially for plastic pipe.)

The heat tape is gone, so I have no clue to follow. The lady who owned my trailer is in a nursing home now (never got to speak with her) and the relatives winterized it. I believe they removed the heat tape while doing so.

P.S. All my site-built homes have had basements and easy access to plumbing. That’s why I’m making sure I understand you correctly. I never had to work on the one-and-only other mobile home I lived in other than to replace heat tape. Even at that, I just followed where the old one had been installed. I don’t remember it going any farther than where the pipe entered the belly.

Sounds like you have it! With PEX sticks you should be able to cut a small slit just at the connections so you won’t have so much belly wrap to tape back up. If you use PEX rolls, you can thread it through but lay the pipe out a couple of days before the project to get some of the curl out of it. Threading it with a long stick helps a lot. At all your fixtures stick the pipe down through the floor first and then go under the home.

Your skirting and pipe insulation is going to be your biggest protection against freezing. In WV, we only add tape to the pipe in the area between the ground and the inlet. I will not use insulation sleeves over tape (and I’m not sure it’s advisable in a lot of cases). An insulated box built around the pipe from ground to belly is a good idea too.

Is there a particular reason you don’t trust PEX? It’s a great product, especially compared to the other options. As long as the fittings are done right you just about can’t beat it.

The sediment is probably clogging up your lines as well as your water heater. Before replacing all the lines you’ll want to get the sediment and rust issue taken care of first. Water filtration systems come in all shapes and sizes and can cost quite a bit. I’ve seen some companies rent the systems out and change the filters out each month for around $30 a month (in WV, not sure about upfront costs).

Just guessing, I’d say running new water lines will cost at least $1000 (that’s for a roll of PEX and fittings, plus labor – this is without removing the old lines, just running new PEX – removing will likely require more man hours and disposal fees – I don’t recall the prices on other pipes cause PEX is the most popular). Water heaters are around $250. Water filtration systems depend on many factors but I’m guessing $500 +.

Sorry I can’t be more help. I do hope you’ll reconsider PEX – it really is one of the best inventions in modern plumbing and I am not paid at all to say that.

My boyfriend and I are trying to install a bathtub in the master bath there was only a plastic shower enclosure which was very small…. We purchased a tub and the drain kit when trying to install the drain extends below the foam attached on the under side of tub, we are at a loss as how to fix the problem other than cutting the plywood floor out and then back fill with foam.? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

If I’m understanding right (the drain line is extending from the bottom of the floor) you may need to raise the tub on a platform. I’ve seen this done in several homes so that the proper slope can be achieved for the draining of tubs and toilets.

If you want to send photos I can have my husband take a look (master plumber). My email is [email protected]

Cut your main water supply off and go to the breaker box and cut electricity off to your water heater (if it’s electric, if it’s propane use the main shut off valve for the propane) first. Turn the gate valve or main valve off on the water heater so that the you don’t get sprayed with hot water.

If it’s leaking from your pressure/thermal expansion valve you will have to find out why there is too much pressure before you do anything. Look to see if your pressure reducing valve failed. ve

Here is the best resource I’ve found to explain how to replace a drain valve and more information on the pressure expansion valve:

Hi, I am having a leak in my mobile home. It is under the fridge which is next to our laundry room. We had someone check the fridge but nothing is wrong, so we had him look at the washer and same thing. I turned of the valves in the laundry room but there is still a leak. Do you have maybe an idea where the leak is coming from.

Have someone take a look at your ice maker. They are sneaky little things and the hoses are easily damaged. If that’s not the problem look in the wall for the washer connection (there’s usually a pipe in the wall that reaches up to the washer hose connection). I’m guessing it’s going to be one of those.

Definitely get it figured out even if you have to start tearing down walls. You don’t want the water damaging your flooring.

I just had this issue. I have a Samsung fridge, and under the crisper drawer it was full of water & slowly dripping down the side and under fridge but from the inside. It was the evaporator coil in back of fridge. It seems to be very common with this brand. Try searching your fridge model see if people have same issue of leaks.

I’ve been reading and watching you help people with their plumbing problems, so here you go with my plumbing problem. I have a 1997 Double Wide and the shower drain pan was leaking under the house. So bought the same exact parts and installed it with the rubber gasket under the shower pan and tightened the nut and then had my wife install the drain with the putty and then tighten the drain into pipe that goes into the trap until it was tight. When my wife turned the water on it leaked under the shower pan again….what did I do wrong?.

Without seeing exactly what type of drain we suspect that the putty may have failed. We only use 100% silicone in between the flange and the pan – as the putty has a tendency to strip off and leave a gap when tightening it.

PS My husband is the licensed master plumber, I’m just the assistant but we’re very happy we can help people! If the silicone doesn’t work please email a picture or 2 of the drain/setup and we should be able to give you more detailed help. My email is [email protected]

– Make sure the toilet is working properly – lift the lid and make sure the tank has sufficient water (you may want to replace the ‘guts’ of your toilet) – Snake the drain to remove any blockages – Make sure your drain pipes are not in a bind and are in an appropriate slope to the main trunk line – Make sure there is sufficient ventilation for that drain line

Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and buy a plumber’s snake. They aren’t perfect but they will get small blockages cleared. You’ll push the wire down your pipe (via the toilet), until it reaches the blockage. Work the snake until the clog clears. If that doesn’t work or your blockage is to far you’ll like need to call plumber with construction grade snake (they have motors and spray high pressure water that will unclog just about anything!).

I live in a 1987 mobile home. When the washer drains water will back up into the kitchen sink and the fumes are horrible. Sometimes the water even overflows from the drain onto the laundry room floor. I see no vent stack thru the roof nor do I see any under sink venting devices. I am somewhat handy with home repairs and my neighbor works for a home re-modeler and will help with anything I need. What do you suggest to correct this problem?

You are experiencing a very common issue in manufactured homes. It’s kind of a double whammy of not enough (or failed) ventilation and possibly too small of a drain line from the washer.

First, try adding a Studor auto vent under the kitchen sink. That should help the smell. Studor is the best name brand and well worth spending the extra $15 over the other auto vents.

If your washer drain line is only an inch and a half pipe you may want to consider re-piping it with a two inch pipe. While doing that, tie it in under the house directly to the main drain/trunk line itself, separate from the kitchen drain. That will definitely fix your problem! Those 1.5″ pipes just aren’t meant to handle a lot of water, especially high pressure water being released from a newer washer.

Try the auto vent first, especially if there is no stack connected to the immediate system (though there could be one in the walls that has failed – the cheaper vents seem to fail after only a few years).

I have a 1980 Celtic. The problem I am having is with slow drainage of the drain pipes from the kitchen and the laundry. The kitchen sink has a pipe that eventually hooks up with the pipe from the washer and utility sink in the shed. These are on the east side of the house, and the outflow point is on the west corner.

Whenever the washer empties, we hear water bubbling in the kitchen sink trap. When things get really slow, water from the washer backs up a bit into the utility sink next to the washer, and, when the dishwasher empties, water will rise into the sink. That’s when we know it’s time to get the pipes snaked.

I have had more than one plumbing company try to figure this out. They say it is not the vent pipes. The most they seem to come up with is that the pipes are so flat by the time they reach the outflow that they drain slowly, and then get layered deposits inside. Whenever a big rush of water enters from the east side, the system is slow to react, which is why we hear the bubbling when the washer empties.

We don’t use the sink disposal for solid foods–nothing like that. We do laundry at least once a week.

The suggestion is that we pour boiling water down the drains once a month. We try to keep up with this, but it seems like the water is cool anyway by the time it crosses from east to west.

By the way, we live in Florida, so freezing isn’t an issue.

Any thoughts? I’ve paid hundreds of dollars to try to get this resolved.

Your issue has all the signs of a ventilation issue but if a plumber determined that it wasn’t a ventilation issue then my second guess (other than a blockage or just improper drain line installation where the drain pipe is installed at a improper angle or with a kink ) is going to be that your drain pipes are simply too small to handle the load from the machine. Going up to a larger pipe size could help. This is especially a problem with drain lines when it comes to modern washing machines and dishwashers.

I still can’t help but think it’s a ventilation issue. If you can figure out where your washing machine drain line connects to your other drain lines (kitchen or bathroom) and add an under the sink vent to that area it may help a bit. if that doesn’t work replaceing the drain line from the washing machine to the main trunk should do the trick (assuming no blockages or improper installation).

I work as a plumber for mobile home manufacturing co. there should be what is called an “in wall’ vent.these vents are typically plumbed into the main washer drain. they are the same thing as an under sink drain. they operate like a “check valve”they are known to quit working. problem is,,,,,,they are inside the wall. so it would take someone wiyh a few carpentry skills to get to it,replace it,repair wall.

You’re right! I know them as inline vents and they can be placed in a wall or under a sink. If you have gurgling or slow drainage you can usually add a vent under a faucet stack to bypass having to cut into a wall. As long as the vent is allowed to suck air in (but not out) it will work – I never much cared for them being placed inside walls.

Thanks so much for reading MHL – I appreciate your comment!

Arthur on November 10, 2015 at 6:58 pm

I have a 1981 Hallmark 2 bedroom trailer. Our bathroom and kitchen sink won’t drain. The tub and toilet are fine. I’ve taken apart the plumbing under the sinks, and ran a snake as far as i could, and still nothing. I’ve crawled all over under the trailer, and the only lines i see coming down and connecting to the waste/septic is for the washer (also fine). The trailer is insulated very well underneath, and i’ve cut a couple spots looking for pipes under the sinks but for the life of me I can’t find anything lol. I’ve even googled various phrases relating to the plumbing plan, to no avail. Any ideas?

Its most likely a blockage or a ventilation issue. Try a true professional plumber’s snake (those they sell at Lowe’s or Home Depot are not that great and are mostly for sinks, not drainage line blockages. You should be able to rent one. Poor ventilation could be air locking the system as well. Those are the most likely issues.

I am working on a double wide for my daughter. There seams to be no water on the “A” side but there is water to the small bathe on the “B” side of the trailer. So I know what I am looking for when I go under the trailer, doe s the water come in from the riser then T and then have separate supply runs to each side of the house? Oh sorry I guess there is water to the laundry area also. Nothing to the kitchen or the main bathe. We just got this house and are fixing it up, utilites have been off for about 6 months. Just got power and gas turned on.

In most manufactured homes the main water line from the meter goes into one connection under the home and straight toward the water heater. From the heater it will branch out. With double wides, it will not have separate entries for each side – It will be a single closed system for everything.

It sounds like you have a simple blockage, especially since it’s affecting the an entire side or area of the home. You’ll probably see the problem quickly once you get under the house. If you don’t see anything obvious, you may want to test the lines pressure with a gauge at each connection or junction. Sometimes, it’s easier to run a new line of PEX than it is to try to find an seemingly invisible issue and repair it, especially with PEX being so affordable and easy to install (use the Sharkbite fittings and you won’t even need a special tool). PEX plays well with others…lol

PS Make sure the previous owners didn’t disconnect that area of the home (they get a leak and just cap off the line until they can get it fixed) or if the lines froze and busted.

It can cause issues if you have completely sealed off your ‘attic’ area (roofing) or under the home (skirting). Both areas need air inlets and outlets to breath and remove condensation.

If you are experiencing wet spots on your ceilings or top of your walls and have deduced that there are no leaks in the roof then condensation is likely the problem. Mold or mildew issues along your home’s sub-flooring can be caused by a lack of ventilation under the home or perhaps the belly wrap (the plastic under your home) is damaged or has open holes.

I live in a 1996 double wide. I removed the garden tub from the master bath and for now I would like to make the area where the garden tub used to live into a ‘dressing area’. I plant to cap off the plumbing and drain line and leave them under the floor in case I decide to put in a tub or larger shower later. There was also a vent pipe in the garden tub area and I’m not sure how to handle it. Will it be okay to take the pipe down to underneath the floor or will messing with it upset the venting system in the bathroom? I’m a DIY’er so I’m not afraid to tackle this but I want to be sure to do it the proper way. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Typically, each vent stack is tied in with the sinks and toilets closest to the vent to create a complete system so you’ll probably want to leave that alone. Capping it off will cause lots of issues. Good call on researching before you did anything – you’re doing DIY right!

Thank you so much for responding, but now I’m a little confused because there appears to be a vent pipe under the sink also. Since the pipe in question comes up from the floor where the garden tub was, I just assumed the vent stack was housed over by the shower since it is on the outside wall and the sink, shower and garden tub each have their own vent pipe. Is that a possibility. The reason I’m asking is the vent pipe where the garden tub was sticks up approximately 6 inches from the floor and 2 to 3 feet from the inside wall so it makes it a little difficult to work around. Would it be a good idea to question a plumber about how I can handle this issue? Thanks so much.

Ventilation is the most complex aspect of plumbing so it is good idea to have someone look at it if at all possible. Depending on how your house is plumbed, there could be a vent for each thing or a vent that ties a couple of them together. It all depends on the plumber and the codes for your area.

You have a few options to work with in situations like yours – there are two different types of vents available, dry vents and wet vents. A wet vent is when a single vent is used as a drain for one thing and a vent for another (say a drain for the sink and a vent for the tub). You can always reroute the vents, you just have to be sure everything has a vent. There are vents you can buy that are placed under your sink, they don’t require a roof pipe at all, and still help with odor and ventilation in the systems. Each part of the country has their own codes though so you’ll want to research for your area.

Best of luck! Hope that helps – I’m not very good at explaining things like this…

Eva on October 16, 2015 at 4:38 am

Hi! Great website. We noticed a leak outside and plumber said it is caused by the a.c. Line. He said before he fixes it he wants a restoration company to prep the ground to avoid health issues. He quoted his part at $1700 and the restoration guy quoted $3000. This seems really high for a leak. I have a call in to my insurer. I’m fairly certain they won’t cover it but I’m hoping they can give me direction on how to handle the problem. I have also noticed strange smells and gurgling and banging sounds which I had assumed were coming from the water heater. We were going to replace the water heater with a tankless but now that this issue has come up its on the back burner for now. We live in Southern California and it has been crazy hot so the a.c. Has been on almost non stop. My husband feels it could be condensation. Do you have any ideas on how to go about this?

Unless CA has some weird environmental laws, I have no idea what a plumber would mean by needing a restoration guy to ‘prep the ground’ for health issues. That sounds suspect to me. In WV all we usually do is dig ditches and holes to the ground…lol. I’d probably call someone else and see what they say.

A simple ‘leak’ in your AC is probably just condensation needing a better route/place to go (though I’m not familiar with AC’s- that’s just my best guess). If you can, email me a bit more info with exactly what needs to be restored and what health issues they may be referring to (I figure mold but if it’s not on any structure it should be easy enough to remedy). My email is [email protected]. I’ll help as much as can.

HELLO Crystal, Have a 1984 Titan Double wide. Were on a well system in the county. I have good hot water pressure thought out my home. Poor to none cold water to the wash machine, both toilets don’t fill up, tub and showers poor to no cold water, sinks have good hot water but poor cold water pressure. Its seems like a clogged pipes? Can I just by pass what I have and run new pipes inside the house. Along the ceiling and cover it with crown molding? Any suggestions or advise to help me. Also do I have to place filter system to pipes to catch any deposits. Thank you

You can but I wouldn’t advise putting it along the ceiling. Running it under your home along the vents is preferable, you’d just stub at each point of use (sink, tub, toilets). This removes the possibility of leaks ruining wood and allows the vents to keep the lines from freezing.

I would also like to know why you wouldn’t suggest running new lines along the ceiling? I have been pulling out my hair for over 5 years now! Every winter I get under my trailer and fix broken pipes like 5 or 6 times until I can’t take it anymore- it will wait till spring! I can’t go without water any more! My plan is to get rid of the cpvc pipes and go to pex. My thoughts are to run the pex mainly along the ceiling ( since heat rises- plus it would be the easiest way to run it) and box it in up there so it looks nicer. My other thought was running it under the trailer somewhat on the ground so that I wouldn’t have to worry about how I was going to attach it to the bottom of the trailer. Every time I went under there when fixing broken pipes I exposed more insulation so it’s hangin all over under there! Soooo.. I figgered my 2nd plan would be go with pex and put each line in piping insulation, and then wrap both in wall / floor insulation together- thinking that that would be good even if it was on the ground, if it had all that insulation. One of my other problems is that I don’t have a furnace, so there are no vents to help from freezing. Trailer was designed with just electric baseboard heat. Soo please reply asap as I ned to do this within the next day or two. Thank you!

Running water lines through your ceiling or on top of your walls just pose a huge leak hazard. A single leak will likely cost hundreds, if not thousands, in damages to your walls, insulation, carpet, ceiling, etc.

The ideal placement would be under the home, right beside your vents. However, since you don’t have vents your plumbing system would need to mimic a site-built home’s system (they typically don’t have venting ran under the home in a straight line like a manufactured home). Your skirting would need to be tight (with proper airflow), your lines need to be wrapped very well (with heat tape installed anywhere there is visible pipe), the lines need to be placed as close to the flooring as possible, and you will want to add insulation under the line and get a new belly wrap installed. Boxing the pipe in is another good way to keep them from freezing. It creates a smaller pocket of air and can be stuffed with insulation. Another step would be to add plastic sheeting on the ground under the home too. There’s a lot to it but each thing adds another layer of protection against freezing and it will all work together for stress-free winters. Oh, and attaching PEX under your home is very simple with J-hooks (50 of them run a couple dollars – you nail the hooks into the wood and then thread the PEX through the J part. It’s actually kinda fun to do..lol).

If it were me, I would do whatever was necessary to have the lines ran in the center under the home. If that’s not possible though, I would try to run them inside, on the bottom of the walls,boxed in like you mentioned. This will help keeps water and electricity from mixing and reduce the possibility of damaging the walls, ceiling, etc. should there be a leak. You may need to move your baseboard heating around though.

It sounds like you have a sound plan. You probably have the grey pipe which has swelled and caused small hairline fractures so every time it freezes the line expands and you get leaks, especially at the connections and stress points.

PS You do not want water lines ran on the ground at all.

Best of luck to you. If you run into any issues just email at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to help.

Good luck!

Crystal on September 7, 2015 at 10:06 pm

does anyone know a solution for why hot water would come out of the cold water in all sinks, showers, washing machine and toilets. I’ve drained the water heater twice with it off and had the pump unplugged without turning the water heater on. I plugged the pump back in. I had cold water for about 20 minutes then it came out steaming hot, still with the water heater turned off.

Water heater does not have a check valve on it and I do not have any single lever faucets. For some crazy reason seems to possibly be coming into the house from the pump already hot.

We are doing a major remodel on our master bath in out 1988 Fleetwood d/w mobile home. It has the grey pipes you are discussing in this article. The contractor did not think they needed replacing and they are close to closing the wall back up. Do we need to replace the pipes now?? Thanks so much!!

If your plumber says they are fine I wouldn’t worry about it. Those pipe are still in use today in many homes, as long as you aren’t seeing any weaknesses in the couplings/joints you should be fine – that’s where the problems are and thankfully with manufactured homes there aren’t quite as many joints as in a site-built home.

I have been reading your site and it’s very informative. You help so many people. We live in a Manufactured home, been living here 23 years. Our Kitchen sink quit draining we had a plumber come out and snake. Nothing worked. My husband bought a 50 ft power snake and tried it also. Did not work. He took the pipes apart under the sink and replaced them still nothing. We also went to Lowes and purchase pretty expensive drain cleaner, still nothing. Please help.

Hello! You should have a shut off valve somewhere under your home directly under the exterior wall (so you don’t have to crawl under the home). Usually, it’s around the water hose connection (where you screw the water hose in) and close to wherever your water heater is in the home. Look around your back door. If you have skirting you’ll likely have a door or small opening so that you can reach it.

Hi, very helpful advice. I have a 92 Horton and a terrible smell coming from tub drain. Started when we fixed the leaky faucet(replaced), so I figured that the drizzling water was keeping a leaky trap full and keeping smell out. My son looked underneath bathroom and said there’s no water dripping, and trap pipe looks good but a vent attached to it was mangled looking. It’s very hard to get to and he has back issues, so I’m calling a plumber I guess since I’m not SURE the vent thing is the problem..what do you think? (The smell is definitely coming from tub drain and yesterday I saw tiny flies in tub! Poured Clorox in and am keeping the water dripping til I can get a plumber in) Thanks

Hi! My Fiancé and I are remodeling a 1970’s Fleetwood single wide and we want to have a shutoff valve under the kitchen sink, as there isn’t one now. The water lines in place are thin tubing. Any suggestions on how to make a shutoff and protect my new cabinets? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Typically, you’ll just cut the hose in half and insert the shut-off valve directly into the line using the proper sized fittings and couplings on each side and then attaching them to the new valve. Worse case scenario is that you will need to replace the supply line – if you have PEX, you’ll have no problem. Let me know if you get stuck! Good Luck!

My wife and I own a Solitaire Megawide (18 X 76) on 10.5 acres. We’ve decided that we want to re-route the gray water to use for watering our garden and lawn and to take some stress off our septic system. All the plumbing is under the house covered by the underbelly fabric. I’ve done some plumbing stuff — running plumbing to an outside barn and a lot of repairs. I laid the water line from our well to the house. I once replaced the main sewer line in a previous home. I’m pretty sure that I can handle this job, but I’m a little skiddish about cutting into that fabric underneath the house to see just what I’m up against. Basically, I don’t want to make a mess of things. Any suggestions? Are there any publications that you would recommend?

Hi Bill! You are right to be a bit worried about cutting the belly wrap – it is very important! Luckily, you can buy wrap repair tape to fix any cuts that you need to make (warning: it’s a pain in the neck but it’s necessary so make the smallest cuts you can and have a helper ready to help you when the time comes to repair it). You may also be able to remove the staples used to attach the plastic to the perimeter of the home though that is a lot of work.

As long as you tape the cuts and keep the plastic taught against the home’s bottom you should be OK.

Hi, We have a big dilemma. Our manufactured home is 86 home. We had so many water leaks over the years . Which 85% time it enquired crawling under house to fix. All floors have been replaced over time from damage. We live in Illinois and it can get extremely cold and have had a few winters with busted Hot water heater and pipes. We now had our house , all new PEX with crimped fittings. We were under the impression plumber was going to put all new lines up in the underbelly and we looked and found they attached the PEX to the steel frame with zip ties. We called them and they said they would come back out and fix it the way we wanted. Now there are several places the underbelly has been torn into and you can see the ground from behind tub wall and behind other bathroom shower wall etc. They also just left the old water lines in there where they cut them. We are older and we don’t want to have more problems in the future and is why we wanted to get water lines all redone but we cant have water lines out in open under home .The mold is very strong in our home now with the underbelly barrier open. We actually found slugs coming into our bedroom from under hot water heater left open too and the mice have been terrible last couple years. We have a concrete block foundation with craw space. In past we had big tub freeze and crack and where the city water line comes up out of ground under home and connects to our home line bust so we insulated it. Question is, what is the best all around way to secure and protect these water lines for below ( -tempts) freezing ? Should they put these lines up into the underbelly where it is not exposed where it suppose to be? Also,our mold barrier underbelly that’s been ripped into and hanging in like 2-3 foot areas, what’s both easy for the plumber to take care of and trouble free and cost effective for us? We already paid them and only want this done right. All help is appreciated Thanks ,Debbie

I’ve always been taught that water lines in an area where it freezes should be installed as close to the vents as possible (in the middle or sides of the home), above the belly wrap. Attaching it to the chassis is fine, I suppose. Don’t worry about the old water lines, as long as they’ve been capped off at all the proper points, there’s no need to remove them. It’s just additional work and you’ll need to pay extra to haul them off.

Your belly wrap must cover everything so you’ll need to have it patched or replaced. Have the water lines insulated and put above the plastic, they should have known better than that in the first place. The heat from the vents helps keep your lines from freezing in the winter and the belly wrap traps the heat under the home as well as acts as a vapor barrier. To be honest, I wouldn’t invite this plumber back – they clearly do not understand mobile home construction and how it all works.

Your new plumber will need to decide the best option to insulate the new water lines (sleeve it or box it in), I can’t really tell you more without looking at it. Just make sure they get that belly wrap up – it is very important.

That’s a really great question! Pressure reducing valves are workhorses of the plumbing industry and do a lot for our homes. Most importantly, they keep the highly pressurized water from the water company from blowing out our valves and fittings while still giving us enough water pressure to get clean, but they are also finicky little things!

Personally, I think 110 psi is a bit high. If you experience leaks or drips, or your water heater tends to go bad quickly, the pressure may be an underlying cause.

If possible, try to lower it to around 65 and see how that works for you. If you don’t like it raise it by 5 till it suits you. Ideally, I’d say 70 psi is a good rate that will give you the cleaning power you want while still keeping your faucets and fittings healthy (I believe the valves are typically set around 60-65 from the factory but I’m not 100% on that).

I have a 1987 Peachtreee double wide mobile home. Water is turned off until we visit for vacation or weekend stay. 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths. I cannot get water to flow into mobile home from water main. I can hear water running from the main and meter is running. There was a leak at the main and the county replaced the connections. Water is not flowing into any of the 3 sinks, kitchen faucets or 3 toilets and faucets in the bathrooms. Outside spigot has no water flow either. Checked water line in yards but could not detect leaks. No visible water leaks under home. Plumber came out last fall and replaced T joint and gray pipe because it ruptured. A full repiping placem ent was not done. Any suggestions of how to get water flow into home? Thanks

Since you have no water at your outside spigot or in the home I’m prone to think there is a stoppage in the line from the meter to the home. Unfortunately, most water companies make you responsible for everything past the meter.

First, Unhook the main line going into the home and see if you have water. If none, your issue is underground. If you do have water, your issue will be in the house. If the problem is underground about the only thing you can do is find where the leak is. It could be a root entered the line or a simple break in an old line. You’ll need to decide whether you’ll just run new line or try to repair the old. Usually, if the line is old, it’s best to just lay new pipe.

If the issue is in the home, you’ll want to flush your water heater and all the lines going to it first to make sure there are not stoppages.

I have a question about a garden tub in our master bath of a 94 doublewide home. We had it fixed once for this same problem and it wasn’t long before it messed up again. It leaks badly at the hot and cold water handles, making it impossible to use this tub. Would you recommend a solution for us that might work? Thank you so much. I really want to be able to use this garden tub again. Elizabeth

It’s probably time to get a new faucet. If you know how to replace the inner workings of a faucet that would be cheaper but usually it’s easier to just replace the whole thing. You should be able to buy a tub faucet for less than $50.

The biggest obstacle will be replacing the old faucet with the new. In our house, we have to go through our 2nd bedroom’s closet to do it. Most manufactured homes have a similar set up, you’ll have an access door you take off to get to the tub workings. With yours being a garden tub, you may have to come up through the floor.

It sounds like you either have a leak somewhere or if you’re on city water they may have had a line break or leak and when they fixed it air entered the line. You should be able to call your water company and ask.

If you have well water you may have a leak and the bladder tank is allowing the air to build up.

Can you email me at [email protected] and I’ll have my husband text you. Thanks so much!

My hubby and i came home today to the sound of running water under our mobile home. upon removing the skirting we see hot water in a steady drain from our hot water heater… where do we even start with this project?? we dont have the money to call a professional so any help would be appreciated.

Thank you so much for this article my fiance and I just purchased a very old mobile home for less than 3000 were completely changing everything but haven’t yet turned on the water I’ve already run into a lot of problems with walls and etc which I expected but this article is awesome never heard of pex at all so I’ll be doing a lot of researching thanks again

PEX will be the absolute easiest and cheapest method for you to re-plumb your home. I promise! It has completely revolutionized the entire plumbing industry. Just grab the correct sized Sharkbite connectors and run it under the home. You’ll be all set!

Hey Crystal,I am replacing a tub j drain trap in our mobile home. The universal threaded trap I bought fits on the tub side but not the drain side. Is there a special mobile home trap I need to buy? Thanks, Tom (retired at the beach)

Hi, I really enjoy reading your site. The other night, temps went down into the single digits so I let my faucets run but I only let the cold water run not the hot. Yesterday morning I woke up with no hot water. Cold water comes out of all the hot water taps. Cold taps work fine. I don’t hear any type noise coming from the hot water heater. I’m scared to open the access panel to do the reset button cause I thought I heard something in there. Don’t know if its frozen lines or the hot water heater. Your opinion is highly appreciated.

First, you should check your breaker and make sure it hasn’t kicked. Kick on if it has. If that’s not the problem your element probably needs replaced. You can replace the elements fairly easy but you will have to open that access panel.

If those don’t work let me know and we’ll go to the next step. You could have your cold water bleeding into your hot water line but let’s take it one step at a time.

Hi Pam! You may want to check the line around the water heater. Usually your main water line breaks into 2 lines, one that goes to your water heater and the other is your cold water line. Sometimes the cold water will catch sediment (whereas the water tank catches whatever goes through it) and it clogs up.

I live in a double-wide manufactured home for five years now. Last night the temp. was below 10 degrees. I woke this morning without the cold water but the hot water seemed fine. It is well water supplied by community pumps, not city water. I had a new HW heater installed back in September by a certified contractor who also installed new heat tape from the meter well about 1 foot below ground to the HW heater. the heat tape has been working fine. We have had temps. like this many times. I am curious as to why I am still getting the hot water. I thought you still need pump pressure from the supply line. Any Ideas? Thanks

It sounds like the T to the cold line (close to your water heater) is freezing. You have 1 main line that goes into your water heater but there’s a T before the water heater for your cold water. Look for that T and follow it under the home – that’s where you’ll need to add your heat tape or insulation.

Thank you very much Crystal. Water damage to my mobile caused water shutoff to my kitchen for 4 months in the meantime roof replacement,ceiling in 4 rooms replacement, drywall in 2 rooms replacement, vinyl flooring replacement in kitchen, and laminate to be replaced in dinning room. Now here is my problem, r I had the leaky hoses replaced under the sink in the kitchen I decided not to put the dishwasher back. The leaks are gone I have running water, but I have this horrible stinch in the kitchen and it sounds like scratching in my walls first it was on the repair side of the house now alternate on both sides. The odor became so bad 4 days after we had water we left the house after raising 5 windows in the house. I returned the odor comes and goes and I haven’t heard the scratching noises. Please help. Asap

It sounds like you have an open sewer pipe or a ventilation issue. When you had your dishwasher uninstalled did the drain to the dishwasher get capped too? Maybe the dishwasher’s drain was accidentally left open. All you’ll need to do is find that and cap it like you did the water lines.

If its not an open waste line from the dishwasher, then it’s possibly a ventilation issue. The noise could be your pipes and that usually means the system isn’t able to breathe properly. You can either look for a broken vent line (poor glue jobs, settling, or accidental cutting are the usual culprits when it comes to disconnected ventilation lines) or you can try installing an under-the-sink Studor vent. It will act as a mini-vent and help rid your home of the odor.

My money is on the dishwasher drain assuming you had none of these issues until the dishwasher was disconnected.

Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions just holler. Thanks so much for reading MHL!

Hi. I have to replace the heat tape on my water line. My water line is now laying on the ground. The maintenance guys told me that I have to hang the line up before putting on new heat tape. Could you tell me how high the line has to be? Could I just raise it a few inches? The water line also runs under the sewer drain(which I just fixed). Do I have to unhook it and run it above the sewer drain?

If it isn’t possible to bury your main water line, use Arma Flex insulation (with the glue strip) and wrap the pipe then use straps to hang the pipe to keep it off the ground. The pipe should never touch the ground and using the insulation will probably keep you from having to use the heat tape (lower power bills!). There’s a lot more to it but I’m simplifying it. Of course, local codes will have to be met.

If it’s the hot/cold pipe running from the water heater to the faucets/tub/etc. then buy some J-hooks or straps and use those to attach your water line under your home as close to the heating ducts as possible. You won’t want any of the pipe resting on the ground.

Ideally, your main water supply will run from the ground straight up to the water heater. From there, the hot and cold lines will be ran under the home beside the heating ducts (above the insulation and plastic barrier) or as close as possible to the middle of the home so the heat from the ducts keeps it from freezing.

If your plastic barrier is in a whole piece try to remove just enough to find a joist to attach it to (without damaging the plastic, you’ll have to reattach it after you’re finished getting the water lines up). You can also use straps if you find it easier to strap the lines to a joist.

We have decided to renovate a bathroom in our double-wide, gutting it completely, getting rid of the plastic tub and sink and putting in something different. We have decided to install a overflow drain for the tub but are having difficulties attaching to the existing pipes as the tub drain is “T’d” into the vent which goes up and out of the roof. Can we cut into the vent and have the overflow drain into it? Gravity will pull the water down but we certainly don’t want to compromise the vent. I love your website! You are helping us to be mobile home proud!

I want a bathroom makeover! Lucky! I spoke to my husband and he drew a diagram of how the overflow would ideally be installed into the system. It seemed a bit too complicated to write it all out.

We weren’t sure if you are using glue or compression fittings (he likes glue better) so he added the transition fitting in case you use compression to go straight into the T. If you’re using glue you’ll be using a coupling instead of a trap adapter. Of course, you’ll need additional fittings to get it inline with the existing T (22’s, 45’s, or 90’s and/or couplings).

If you have any problems just let us know or send us an image and we’ll go from there. Thanks so much for reading MHL!

Our doublewide was made in l998. We’re on a well. It is snowing and quite cold. Our kitchen sink tap occaisionally spits a little air; but basically the water is coming in ok. Both toilets seem to refill quickly after each flush; but the bathroom taps for the sinks have now such lowered water pressure that there is only a tiny stream of water from either of them. They are both on the same side of the home, with a bedroom in between.

If neither your hot and cold is getting proper pressure you may want to check your aerator first (the screen at the tip of the faucet). Dirt and small particles get trapped and since it seems to be happening with both the hot and cold it just about has to be in your faucet. If your aerator is clean, try a new faucet. You should be able to get one for about $15.

Also, if you are getting air in your lines then you may have a small leak somewhere from the expansion tank to your house that is allowing air to enter your line. You may want to look for drips or leaks or soggy ground around your line. Leaks usually get worse with time so you’ll want to find it and repair it before it gets worse.

You are so lucky! I loved our well water growing up, we had the best water on the east coast and it spoiled me – I can’t stand city water at all now!

Just let me know if you have any more questions – my direct email is [email protected] (it’s usually faster to email me). Thanks for reading Mobile Home Living – I appreciate you!

thank you very much for your reply. I had a plumber come and check it all he did was put a brass 90 degree shark bite on it and its held ever since. He said that my girlfriends dad put the plastic screw on type and theres an insert that you put inside the grey hose that he did NOT put which caused it not to tighten properly but so far so good. If I ever have another problem I will definitely contact you on this website. THANK YOU for your time.

(AWESOME WEBSITE) Hi my name is jeromy not the same jeromy above lol. this morning my girlfriend was taking a shower and all of a sudden I heard water gushing from under the house so I ran outside and turned the main water off. their was water everywhere. Her dad came to see what the problem was (i had to work) he saw a pipe cracked and had detached above where the main water shut off valve is. he replaced the pipe and put a new fitting even insulated it. her son was taking a shower about 3 hours ago and boom water gushing again??? this time I burned the crap out of my hand and arm because like I said, the water was coming from right above the main shut off valve and it was dark. should’ve took a flashlight but it was a fast reaction. but im not sure if its the same pipe he fixed but do you think maybe we have to much pressure. any advice will be greatly appreciated

I am renting an older mobile home that has the vent pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. There is also one in the bedroom closet. First, I was wondering what that vent in the closet is for? Second we have been having sewer smell in the home. It was coming from the closet with the vent so we replaced the vent. We are still smelling it from time to time but it doesn’t seem to be as strong in the closet. Seems to happen more when we are doing laundry but that’s not the only time it happens. Any ideas?

The vent is probably for your tub drain. They use those instead of the vents that go out of your roof. I think you can remedy the odor issue by buying a Studor vent. Studor vents doesn’t let air out, only in so the chances of having any smell is significantly reduced.

Hi! I have been in my mobile home 12 years. It was brand new. All of a sudden last week when doing laundry our water was draining from the washer & coming up into the tub. now both toilets and tubs are full of dirty & clean water. HELP! I cannot afford a plumber. Is there a way to do this myself? Any advice on the least expensive way, even if something temporary until next month when I can afford to pay someone to look at it. Thanks!

It sounds like you have a stoppage somewhere in your line too. The best remedy would be snaking or jetting the line to clear the blockage.

You may be able to rent a ‘professional’ snake from an industrial supply center and jet it yourself (be sure to research on the proper way to do it). You can also buy a small snake for $30 at Lowes here but to be honest those are only going to work for small blockages in the sinks and tub pipes. Since you’re experiencing back-flow it’s probably going to be in your main line under the home or in the line from your home to the main sewage line – your waste simply doesn’t have anywhere to go so it backs up. There could be a ventilation issue but if this just started and you haven’t had any bad odor or weird noises it’s most likely going to be a blockage.

Trying Draino or some other drain cleaner may work – it could be worth a try – but those usually only work for small blockages. Root killer could be another remedy you might want to try (to be honest though, neither is going to work if it is a large blockage).

You’ll want to hire a plumber that owns their own jet machine so make sure to ask before you hire them. If they have to rent the machine it’s going to cost more.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! Keep us informed and let us know if you have any issues. My email is [email protected] – we can help walk you through the steps if you do rent your own machine.

We have a 2000 mobile home double wide. When I drain the garden tub water comes up in the toilet and all the plumbing fixtures. I put baking soda and white vinegar in them and thought it was fixed. Today I ran the washing machine and it did the same thing when it drained. A plumber came out and snaked it from the roof and that didnt work. He said the clean out is under the trailer in the middle . Now what?

It sounds like you need to have a jet machine put through the whole system – you probably have a stoppage in the main line somewhere, possibly outside the house (especially if it doesn’t happen as much or as bad if there is a bit of time between draining your tub, faucets, or washer). You could have roots invading your line or it could be regular ole drainage stoppage.

A plumber should be able to find the clean out under the home (assuming there is one) or just cut into the line, jet it, and then reattach it. I don’t think there’s going to be home remedy but you can try draino or root killer – that may work.

Good luck – let us know what happens and if you have any more questions!

Sounds great! I want to get started on that this weekend! Now that my home is stripped down, I’m going to take some photos for “Before and After” purposes so I can share them when it gets closer to being a completed project. I’m sure I’ll have many more questions for you and the community as the process unfolds, ESPECIALLY when I get started on the bathroom. Thanks again for all that you do!

very helpful article!! Thanks so much for providing such a handy website for the manufactured home community!! I own a 1983 Peachtree 14×70 single wide that I am in the process of restoring. The inside of the home is stripped completely out, all the way down to the particle board sub-floor. It still has the original polybutylene plumbing in place. I want to re-plumb the home before I get too deep into the restoration. Is it best to just bypass the existing PB plumbing and run all new hot and cold pex lines from the water inlet line to the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area? Should I run the pex under the subfloor from the inside or just go underneath the home, run the pex under the belly tarp and then insulate the lines? I was told by another mobile home owner that I should avoid cutting the belly tarp if at all possible as they are difficult to patch and re-seal properly. The home is located in an established park in the United States, desert southwest area. Temperatures here rarely drop below freezing, even during the coldest winters. I’ve never done ANY plumbing so I am currently stumped as to the best approach for this project. Most plumbers in this town refuse to work on mobile homes and the few that will do it charge a much higher rate for labor on mobiles as opposed to site-built homes. Any info you could share with me would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks for all that you do!!

It is usually easier to just run all new PEX throughout the home. You can use shark-bites and be done with the whole home in a day! I would run it under the home on one side (whichever side your water heater is on) and either box it in or bundle it together and strap it to the underbelly and protect it somehow,(there’s foam covers that may work good for you) if your area gets below-freezing temps. If you don’t ever get freezig temps you probably won’t have to get too wrapped up in trying to protect the lines (get it? wrapped up? lol).

You got some very good information about the belly tarp – if possible keep from tearing it or moving it at all because patching it is difficult and the tarp is very important for the health of the home. I have heard that it is easier these days to patch them then it used to be – I guess the patching kits have improved a lot in the last few years.

I’m positive you can do this on your own and won’t need a plumber at all. They are awful expensive! If you have any problems or issues as you go just email me at [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help – my hubby is a master plumber and he gives me a good rate…lol

Hi Shiela! You may have a stoppage in your drain line from your washer where the water has no where else to go but up and out. See if you can borrow or buy a snake (its a long metal hose that you put down in the pipe and turn a handle to make it longer, you can buy a small one for less than $30 at Lowes).

I think that will fix you right up but if you need anything else just let me know. Good luck!

Great site, we have a 1994 Fleetwood with the grey pipe, never had a problem (knock wood) but now the shower is dripping from the shower head. We have replaced the valves & seats in the past & the dripping stopped, this time with new valves & seats both generic & Phoenix brand the drip increased….called plumber & he wouldn’t even look at it to see if maybe my husband did something wrong, just wanted to cut the wall in my bedroom open & also cut fiberglass in shower stall & replace with Moen valve assembly to the tune of $850….this cost us $59 for that bit of devastating news. We put the old stuff back in & the drip diminished to almost very little as it was when we started. I don’t understand (1) why the new parts make it worse (they are same as old) & (2) why we were not offered any alternative to a total in the wall replacement. Thanks for any advice.

Hey Crystal, I have a 1996 General double wide mobile home and I noticed water damage to some of the walls in the home in 2008. I had a plumber come out and he said that I don’t have any water pipes on the side of the house where the water damage is. He had me turn on the water while he was under the home to check for leaks on the opposite side of the house where the pipes are at and he said there were no leaking pipes. He suggested that it may be coming from the roof so I had a new roof put on in 2010. The areas where the water damage is is still wet. So I had another plumber come out and he could not find a leak either. The water damage is in 3 rooms of the house and it starts where the carpet meets the wall and goes up about 6 to 8 inches. There is a hot water heater in one of the bedrooms and that bedroom is adjacent to the rooms that contain the water damage. Any ideas or suggestions on where the leak is coming from would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Anita

I think you are experiencing humidity condensation from the ceiling or under the home. Believe it or not, condensation can often look and act just like a leak and produce enough moisture to rot walls and flooring. Make sure there are at least a couple of vents that allows air circulation to get to the area between your original roof and the interior ceiling. Sometime the vents aren’t properly setup during installation or sometimes when a new roof is added the installers cover over them accidentally. Are you seeing any warping in the ceilings anywhere? Maybe a little bow somewhere?

That would be my guess if plumbing was ruled out as well as any possibility of leaks occurring from the roof or windows (or gutters). There’s also a chance that it could just be faulty, or no, exterior sheathing. My father bought a 1986 double wide brand new and when they delivered it it didn’t have one bit of exterior sheathing. It was vinyl siding, studs, and insulation…lol He assumed that it was a standard option but found out that it wasn’t. Lesson learned I supposed..lol

It has to be something causing the damage, if the plumber checked the water heater, and all the lines are on the other side, then I would have to say its either condensation or water getting under the siding somehow (at the roof, widows, doors, etc). It could be entering at one side of the home and following along horizontal stud till finally appears at the carpet line. It could also be condensation under the home (if the vapor barrier under the home is ripped or torn, condensation can collect under the flooring).

It really could be anything but I would look into the condensation above or below and a leak somewhere that’s allowing rain in. Good luck!

Is the water line running in the belly skirt? Or underneath? We came home today to find water under the laminate flooring in the kitchen, not pouring out, but when you step on the laminate some squeezes out through the cracks. It seems to me that if the pipes are leaking then the water would leak into our crawlspace not up into the house.

Yes, most water lines in manufactured homes run under the home but the water lines come up through the floor and connect to your faucet. Please look under your kitchen faucet or dishwasher for the leak. That connection may very well be the problem.

If you’ve experienced a lot of snow or rain, if could be a leak around doors or windows. (The heat from the home could be melting the snow on the roof and traveling down a wall). You’ll want to shut your water off immediately either at the connection point, usually where your water hose connects outside or at the meter or well/pump. If it’s that bad (and that’s a pretty bad leak if it’s squeezing out) then your sub-flooring and walls will get water-logged and weaken the wood or it could cause mold issue later on. First, find the leak and fix it. Then lift the laminate and soak up as much water as possible and point fans to it. You don’t want the water to ‘sit’ on the wood for very long.

So sorry you are experiencing this! If you need specific help please send me an email to [email protected] and we’ll do our best to get you pointed in the right direction. Good luck!

Sorry you’re having issues! There’s got to be an underlying cause for the broken pipes – usually it’s either the pipes were faulty from the get go, their just old, the pressure is too high from the main line or the pipes are freezing and busting.

If it’s an older home or the pipes are just faulty, you’ll probably just need to re-pipe the entire home. It will save a lot of time, money and frustration over just fixing the leaks as they happen.

You could do it yourself for less than $100-150 in material. A roll of PEX with the proper fittings is about all you need – they make fittings that you just push into the pipe and they also make transitional fittings so you won’t have to replace your faucets connections. One day of labor should do it! Run the pipe as close to the middle of the home as possible and insulate it well, that should help with freezing. If your water has very high pressure, you might want to look at your pressure reducing valve. It lowers the pressure from the main water line before it goes into your home. The pressure is very high from the main line and if it’s not reduced or controlled it will cause the connections to fail quicker.

If you have any specific issues just let me know! I’ll do my best to help. Good luck!

Yes, I need help. I own the mobile home, but not the land and the landlord has told me to fix my leaky galvanized pipes or he will shut the water off to my mobile completely. I have to do this myself and I’m not a strong female, but I am a determined one. My question is .. How do I get the galvanized pipe off this mobile home?? I have to replace it with PEX – but the pipe was done in 1969 and it’s really wrenched on to connections. Can I cut it?? I can’t possibly cut thru it with a hacksaw, I’m not that strong… any ideas. It’s getting late in the year and the snow will fly soon and I will not have any water. Thanks so much

You can cut it Penny! If you have access to a sawzall that would probably be your best bet, there are blades you can buy just for the pipes that will saw right through them.

You shouldn’t have too hard a time installing the PEX. It’s great for DIY beginners and you just about can’t go wrong with water lines. Look into using the shark bites for the PEX, you can just hand tighten them and get a good seal – I think they are the best invention ever! Now, if you have to replace the drain lines too, that could pose a bit of a hassle but nothing you can’t handle!

My email address is [email protected]. If you need anything just email me directly -my husband is a master plumber and we’ll be happy to help you and walk you through it all. Together we can make sure you have water!

Thanks!

Lee Peckham on March 28, 2017 at 4:40 pm

Due to flooding, our belly bag and pink insulation was damaged. We had to remove it all. We decided to spray foam the underneath. Since then, a prospective buyer informed us that in the event of a plumbing leak, the water would have no where to go and would travel upwards into our flooring and we would not realize it until it was too late. Could this possibly be true? Thank you for any help you can give. Lee

That’s a possibility, I suppose. Just be proactive and check for leaks routinely. If you can poke a hole or two around your water fixtures (especially toilets and baths) you could give the water an escape route and a way to detect leaks. Plus, whenever there is a leak that wasn’t detected quickly you can almost guarantee that flooring will need to be replaced anyway, especially if its original particle board sub-flooring, that stuff just soaks the water up like a sponge. I think you’ll be OK.